Link to Sporting Pulse Report

 

Caulfield  24.12.156     Defeated     Williamstown  10.10.70

 

I said last week I could not wait for the next round, well it was certainly worth the wait. Great weekend for the Club, 4 from 4, or 15 from 15 as Peter Small reminded me at drinks after the game.

Unfortunately didn’t get to see any of the under nineteen’s match as they were out at Carey, coming from behind again to take the points. Clearly they are a team who never doubt their ability to win a game no matter what the circumstances.

I arrived at Glenhuntly in time to see most of the Thirds, now under the coaching of Will Bowes, appointed before the start of the season but in the process of moving back to Melbourne with his young family. Terrific to see ‘Bowesy’ back in town and so respectful of what Luke Matias has done in the interim by making sure Luke remained on the coaching bench in this game – a really good combination consisting of two terrific clubmen. Make no mistake, there are guys running around in the ‘threes’ more than capable of playing higher and this must be the fittest thirds team we have placed in the field. When you have to commit to training to make the third eighteen, that is powerful stuff.

And so to the Reserves, again bolstered with Dan Meddings, unlucky to not retain his place in the senior team but that is the strength of the playing list at present. Simon Williams has made it very clear that this past weekend and the coming two will define us more clearly as we head into the business end of the season. I shouldn’t ‘bang on’ about the importance of Reserves’ teams again; but I will, because the facts still stack up. The moment your senior team loses players unexpectantly, the replacements have to have been in a really competitive environment and right now our ‘ressies’ players can’t afford to relax otherwise they could lose their place in the line-up! With 2^nd (us) playing 3^rd (Williamstown), one would have expected a close encounter but it was far from that. 7.4 to 1.0 in the first quarter and a huge win, 25.13 to 6.5 was outstanding. I have to say it has been sometime since I have seen such a cohesive reserves unit as our lads on Saturday. It really was terrific to watch and plenty shared my opinion. With Jimmy Gray leading so well and the continued development, both skill wise and physical strength wise of a lot of the young guns, we have some genuine contenders for higher honours. Watching Dan Meddings run riot was the perfect response to the selection challenges and we have another bunch on quick, skilful on-ballers developing; Lachie Gallop, Tommy Stewart et al were all over the opposition and John Nankervis, James Small, Harrison Mills, Will Conly and others have taken a real step forward.  Sean Stewart and Sam McDonald; a terrific ruck duo. TJ Rothel has to play well every week until his chance comes ‘cos he can play at both ends of the ground in key positions, Lachy Topp has to harness his emotions to fully compliment his ability and all the others also have to keep playing well to get a crack at the next level let alone hold their place in the ‘twos’. It’s really exciting stuff and this performance was as good a reserves display as I have seen at CGFC, well done everyone, coaches and support staff included. Oh, and Damo Simic and Woody are a huge headache for any opposition defence and Clarky, Drew and James Anderson looked just as comfortable despite seeing Jackson Small elevated to the senior team and the rest all paid their way – very good display guys! And I’m not even paid to cover the Ressies!!

Williamstown CYMS had come to Glenhuntly for the first time (as far as I am aware) only a game behind us and with a reputation as a very determined outfit. Being only 4 points plus percentage behind us we expected a pretty tough contest. Will Osborn kicked the first goal of the match, a beneficiary from a move starting at half back and 4 minutes from the commencement of play. Our on-ball brigade got really busy, especially Tim Nixon and Charlie Logan, and under pressure, our last line was really strong. Shortly after Tom Green kicked a behind, Williamstown rebounded very quickly and kicked their first with a lucky bounce that tuned like a ‘ Warnie leg-break’. Will Barker’s entry a few minutes later provided an opportunity and Louis O’Keefe took advantage to kick his first major. Williamstown answered within minutes and that was the end of the goals for 14 minutes, misses from set shots for both teams. Brett Sinclair unluckily got pushed in a marking contest and was off under the blood rule for a time during which his fattened lip seriously threatened his plans for the progressive dinner later that evening and certainly would have put a ‘dampener’ on his new date for the night! Not unusually, Andre Lister was winning the majority of the ruck duels, with strong relief from Dec Reilly. We were winning in the mid-field, Sam Banfield was in the thick of things and providing body support for our smaller guys. Jesse Toniolo was busy across the centre and Jackson Small had settled in nicely on the last line of defence. The defence was standing up well and Hugo Gates’ judgment of the ball in the air was sublime. The on-ball brigade was defending well in the back half when required. Jack Woodman started to settle in nicely in defence in his first game for The Fields for the season. I was particularly impressed with the harassment of our players toward their opposition as we closed them down a number of times and intimidated them sufficiently to create turnovers. It was pressure by our combined forwards that allowed Louis to handball effectively to Will Barker who snapped our third goal for the quarter to take a lead of 3.2 to 2.5 at quarter time. Into the wind and leading on the scoreboard was a great start to the game.

Greeny lit up the vocal support with a goal within a minute of the start of the second quarter and it came from a beautiful tap out the back by Declan from a boundary throw-in. Our second goal, at the 4 minute mark, excited the crowd with Brett Sinclair, oblivious of his swollen lip, soaring above the pack, reminiscent of the young’ Shiggy’ of almost a decade ago. When Williamstown mounted one of their few forays into attack, young Finn McEvoy again impressed by maintaining his balance in contests and clearing on more than one occasion, usually well back by Dom O’K. Sam Banfield was again an instigator of an attack, providing Will Barker with an opportunity that he did not fail to utilise. ‘Barks’ pass to Louis was a ripper and Louis had kicked two for the quarter inside of 6 minutes. The fields’ ‘upped the ante’ with some good passages of play including, a great intercept by Andre, a terrific run down of an opposition player by Tom Small, Barks again driving the ball forward with his evasive skills evident and Finn again blocking the opposition attack. However, a poor delivery across the ground was really wasteful and Williamstown kicked a goal at the 9 minute mark. There were further good passages of play involving Andre, Jesse Toniolo and Jackson Small,  a great piece of recovery by Lloyd Everett and when Brett Sinclair earned a free, he found Louis on the lead for his fourth goal. A good pass from Ryan Harris to Louis only resulted in a behind and after Jesse T provided another spark, Brett Sinclair kicked a further behind as we worried again about wastage!   Charlie Logan set us on the right path again with a mark and a pass to Louis who converted for the fifth time. A free to Andre and his low kick to the square saw Nick Silvestro provide a superb piece of roving and a goal just into time-on. Jack Woodman was becoming more prominent and after a good saving mark in the back half and started the transportation around the outer side, Sam B found Jesse T who goaled with 24 minutes of the quarter gone. We scored two more goals in the remaining 6 minutes of the quarter, the first by Charlie Logan who was on the end of a Banfield clearance from the middle and the effervescent Louis O’K was delighted when his big mate Declan ran it in from the flank and Louis made no mistake. We were running all over Williamstown and took a ten goal lead into half time, 13.6 to 3.6 and it was game over.

I almost missed Louis’ goal inside 20 seconds of the start of the third quarter as I fumbled around trying to find the interchange card. I did see Will Barker ‘baulking’ his way through traffic. A reverse free to us allowed Charlie Logan to pass to Dec but he only managed another behind and we continued to run all over the opposition. We seemed so much more composed than in previous games at this stage. Was it because the opposition were so poor or was it because we were continuing to have a better understanding of one another’s style of play? Whatever, it was great to watch. Williamstown finally kicked a goal after 11 minutes from a mark in the forward pocket. Soon after, Nick ‘Silver’, who was having a really good day, was in receipt of Tim Nixon’s clever delivery and very intentionally ‘dribbled’ the ball through from 20 meters out. Nick Silvestro was starting to demonstrate his skill set as we completely dominated play in the centre square contests. ‘Ossie’ laid a great tackle, evidence of his growing determination to play at the best level. Tim Nixon was having another good day and kicked our 17^th goal with over 10 minutes of play left in the quarter.

As the minutes ticked by, Williamstown became rather ragged but we could have done better with our conversion and Williamstown kicked consecutive goals before Will Barker answered with one. Nick Tonkin had started to take over on his flank. After almost 31 minutes, the three quarter time siren sounded with our lead substantial, 18.9 to 6.9.

I even heard talk from over the boundary line from supporters that with the wind in the last we should go for 30 goals. It didn’t become that productive and Willy kicked 2 out of the first 3 goals, ours coming from Tom Small with a classy conversion. Admittedly, Williamstown made sure there were all possible numbers in our forward area and it did become a bit of a slog for a time and they made it three out of four which was rather disappointing. With the crowding tactics it became more of a rugby style game before Tim Nixon kicked an overdue goal, courtesy of Sam’s handball. I felt we weren’t making the most of Andre’s dominance in the ruck, and not for the first time this season but maybe credit to the opposition! Shortly before time-on, a passage including a kick-in from Finn, a Ryan Harris mark followed by Ossie’s involvement and ‘Barks’ again found the leading forward with a pass, Declan going back and banging one through. Louis did it again with his 8^th goal before a bit more frustration with our handball often going astray but ‘Barks kicked one 28 minutes in. Williamstown fired a salvo with two goals in a minute to gain some respectability and Ryan Harris kicked the last goal of the match with a powerful snap from centre half forward – final score 24.12 to 10.10. Two games to go before the half way mark!

Goals – Louis O’Keefe (8), Barker (3), Silvestro (3), Nixon (2), Osborn, Sinclair, Toniolo, Logan, Green, Tom small, Reilly, Harris.

Better players – Logan, Barker, Silvestro, Toniolo, L O’Keefe, Banfield, Nixon, J Small, Gates, Lister

A quick summary – well organised, hard working, a bit wasteful in front of goal, committed to one-another, more cohesive and keen to get to the progressive dinner to celebrate; and so they should. Competition for places in the line-up will intensify further if the injuries are not too numerous. Well done everybody from Peter Small down. Some subtle reminders from Simon will surely keep the train on the track with no room for passengers.

Fieldsman for the day –Good to see Shaun (Spud) Cossart-Walsh again following the team. Spud was a 200 game player, very versatile and cool under pressure and forever acknowledged as squaring off for ‘Ando’ in the 1998 Grand Final. Good to see you again Spud.

Go Fields!      

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